Till the End of Time [Bbangsaz & Daerin]

12 | To the Rescue

| In Minjis Car |

Immediately after receiving the call and being told to meet, Minji and the other two women made their way to the said location. It could only be there, Minji couldn't imagine anything else. "Where exactly are we going?" Danielle, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, addressed her question to the driver. Hanni also seemed curious as to where exactly they were going, as Minji had only told them that they had to leave immediately. The car sped through the streets at what felt like top speed and it was a miracle that no sirens had yet sounded to keep Minji's aggressive driving style in check. "... we're going to the place where it all began," both Danielle and Hanni immediately got the answer translated in their heads. So the people who had kidnapped Haerin were in the old woods? There was no doubt that this could not be the case, which is why no one said a word and Minji was able to concentrate fully on the journey.

| Ruins of the House of Kang |

The journey was long. It felt like they had to drive through the whole country to reach their destination, and by now the sky was darkening. During the journey it was actually quiet. Danielle seemed to have fallen asleep in the back seat and Hanni also looked exhausted from the drive. After all, they were driving in the middle of nowhere, where hardly a soul was still on the road and certainly couldn't pass by so quickly. As the car slowly came to a halt, the passengers gradually woke up, while Minji had long since got out of the car. Hanni was the next to follow her and wanted to join her. The driver opened her trunk and pulled on a loop in the floor, only to open a secret compartment inside. Hanni rubbed her eyes a little sleepily, but was immediately taken aback when she saw what exactly Minji had taken out of her car: "What the... you've hidden a sword in your car?" Minji attached a belt and fastened her sword to it and immediately brought something else out of the compartment. 

By now Danielle had also emerged from the car and sauntered over to the others and immediately her eyes snapped open, obliterating any sign of tiredness in them, "Is that a fucking gun!!!?" Minji didn't answer directly, she just checked to make sure everything was right with the gun. It looked like she did this every day, like she had done it several times before and it shocked both Danielle and Hanni. Minji stowed the gun behind her back and closed the secret compartment and then the trunk. Only now did she turn her attention to the other two: "We don't know what we're up against, so I should at least be prepared just in case." She walked around the car and opened the driver's door, only to take off her blazer and throw it on the seat. As she rolled up the sleeves of her blouse, she spoke to the other two again, "I don't know if I can protect you both at the same time, so try to stay as close as possible." When she had finished rolling up her sleeves, she turned her gaze to Danielle and Hanni, "I don't like the idea of putting you in danger, but you're probably just as unsafe here in the car." Slowly they really realized the seriousness of the situation, both nodded at Minji's orders and as she took the first steps into the forest, they followed her as closely as possible.

The deeper they went into the forest, the more sinister it became for Danielle and Hanni. They clung to each other, their eyes darting frantically and with slight panic through the branches of the trees. Why did it have to be dark now of all times? It really wasn't easy for them. Every crack that sounded made them flinch, the chirping of owls echoed through the air and made them feel uneasy and every time something rustled behind them, it elicited silent screams from them. Luckily, they could use their cell phones as flashlights, otherwise they wouldn't have taken a single step into the forest. Only Minji was completely unaffected by all the noises and things that appeared here. Partly because she was used to it from before anyway, and partly because she knew that her opponent would at least want an honorable fight, if you could call it that. She still didn't quite understand why Haerin, of all people, had been kidnapped when it would be much easier to lure Minji off the defensive with Hanni. It just didn't make sense. But she didn't have time to think about it now.